It Started with a Cat
by Charizrd
Summary: It's funny that all of their lives are tangled into a mess now. A few months ago they wouldn't have even crossed paths, and now they have group chats. Members of the night class aren't even supposed to talk to humans much, but now they can't keep away from those two. It's even funnier that it all started because of a cat.
1. Chapter 1

**PLEASE READ:** **So this is kind of AU, this is set in a world a little after Yuki became a vampire. But the catch is that Ichiru came with Zero to Cross as a kid. So he's been a prefect the whole time and isn't the "evil" twin. Other than that, this is just a crazy AU with an OC so enjoy :D**

Hiro actually snorts in her face when Yori first asks. But Yori expects this much trouble, it would be more worrisome if Hiro accepts without a fight. "Please? You're the only one that can keep him safe," she begs. Hiro is the only girl without a roommate in the Sun Dorms, Yori _needs_ to convince her.

The _him_ in question is curled up on Hiro's lap as they speak. His bright orange fur shimmers; he's chosen to sit directly in sunlight and bathe in the warmth. It's a typical cat thing to do, really. Hiro doesn't mind cats, and even gives him a gentle scratch behind the ears. "What makes you so sure Ichiru's gonna let _me_ slide?"

"You're his best friend!" Yori begs.

"Which gives him even _more_ reason to slit my throat open when he finds a cat in my dorm," Hiro raises an eyebrow. "Why can't you keep him?"

Yori falters at that and lowers her gaze, "Yuki would catch me." Hiro doesn't press. It's no secret that Yuki and Yori haven't been on the best of terms lately.

"Guess a bitchy attitude is a complement to the long hair?" Hiro jokes but Yori gives her a stern glare. "I'm kidding," she sighs. She isn't really kidding, but Yori doesn't need to know that. The cat stretches out and presses his wet nose into Hiro's palm, asking for another scratch. Hiro can't say no to the small mewl it gives and sighs. "He's going to kill me," she groans.

Yori's ears perk up, "Is that a yes?"

The cat blinks his eyes and yawns, curling back into Hiro's lap and she really can't say no. To Yori, of course she could. It isn't a secret that Hiro is the least empathetic person to walk this school, and it's even _less_ of a secret that Hiro cares for herself above all others, but it's a pretty cute cat. "I guess. God he's _so_ gonna kill me."

"He won't," Yori reassures, a triumphant smile on her face. "You're Kiryuu-kun's best friend, besides I think he'd like the cat," She reaches to give his orange head a small pat. The cat whines and swats the hand for disturbing his slumber.

Hiro scoffs, "Yea, I'm stuck with Ichiru no matter how much I _want_ to get rid of him," Yori rolls her eyes, "That is _one_ Kiryuu. If Ichiru doesn't already murder me for keeping a cat, his brother is going to rip my intestines out and play jump rope with them in front of everyone just so no one tries this shit ever again," Yori starts a protest, but ultimately quiets down when she realizes that is a probable outcome. Hiro narrows her eyes, "Exactly."

"You don't need to tell him," Yori crosses her arms with a huff, "It's a month old kitten, and by the time it grows up we'll find a permanent home for him."

Hiro laughs, loud enough for the cat to hiss at her to shut up. "Ichiru tells his brother _everything_ ,"

"He won't tell him if he wants to keep the cat," Yori states.

Hiro looks down at the cat, stretched out with his belly exposed and sighs. She figures that Yori's right, one look at him and Ichiru will be cooing all over it like the idiot he is. "I suppose you're right." Hiro still groans loudly and rubs her temples. "How am I even going to _tell_ him."

Yori giggles, "Hiro-chan always works something out!"

She rubs her temples, "I get to name him,"

Hiro started at Cross Academy two years ago with a clear goal: get in and get out. She didn't expect high school to be all fun and frivolous. She certainly didn't count on it being the _'best four years of your life!'_ She expected it to be hell in its rawest form. Although, in a sense, she'd really already experienced that. The separation between the Night and Day class already made Cross something special, but like all high schools, Cross had its own set of social rules for the normal non-fangirling population (however small it be). Rule number one, plain and simple, stay out of the way of the prefects.

Hiro broke that rule within thirty seconds of entering Cross by crashing headfirst into Ichiru Kiryuu. The grounds were beautiful, anyone could admit that. So long as Hiro stayed away from the Moon dorms, they were hers to explore, until of course Ichiru showed up to ruin that. He looked battered and bruised, silver hair sticking up all over and his violet eyes looked bloodshot. In fact, blood stained his uniform. So naturally, the first words Hiro said to him, were, "You look like shit."

Ichiru tried to snap at her, say something witty but keeled over in pain. He clutched his stomach and groaned. Hiro shoved her hands in her pockets and watched blood pool out of his fingers. Ichiru looked up, "Nurse's office, now." He snarled.

Hiro continued walking. "Maybe if you were nicer," she drawled. Ichiru coughed violently. With a shiver he forced himself to stand and stumbled after her – only to fall again after walking a total of two feet. Humans were not good people – Hiro accepted this. She had no obligation to help anyone but herself. She'd definitely learned the hard way that humans were shitheads. So why shouldn't she be one too, she was human after all. But she also was not a murderer. With a groan, she turned back.

Hiro sighed, throwing his arm over her shoulder, she not-so-gently dragged his sorry ass to the nurse's office. "You owe me for this," she snarled at him. She figured if the boy could speak without passing out, he would have snapped something back. The trip to the nurse's office wasn't long – but when carrying a boy nearly twice your size it feels like a trip to China and back. Hiro dumped him unceremoniously on the bed and the nurse's face had gone pale. Shockingly enough, she looked more concerned about the fact that Ichiru had been found by her than the fact that his insides were falling apart.

Hiro had a hunch as to why, but didn't act on it. Acting on it never did any good, and she'd already decided other humans were too shitty for her to care about them. The nurse couldn't have driven her out any sooner, and Hiro sure wasn't keen on staying.

Hiro didn't learn his name until the next morning. She learned that his name was Ichiru Kiryuu, twin brother of Zero Kiryuu, also one of the many heartthrobs of the school (although, a good number of those were contained in the night class). Ichiru tossed her a glance then, but continued his prefect duties without much more. Hiro didn't care, she didn't plan on acknowledging him anyway.

Until it happened again, a few days later. Ironically enough, Ichiru had made it pretty far this time for the state he was in; yet managed to collapse directly in front of Hiro's door. And Hiro, who made a pact to hate everyone who wasn't herself, sighed. "This a new habit?"

"S-Shut up," Ichiru snapped.

Hiro made a move to close the door, but stopped when Ichiru gasped. She groaned, loud and angry to make her displeasure known. Ichiru murmured something against her shoulder when she hoisted him up, something about not asking for help, something about being fine alone. Hiro shrugged, "Fine by me,"

She didn't drop him on a bed this time, but left him cowering outside the door. If he didn't want help, he sure didn't want to be seen with it. And she sure didn't want to be seen with _him_. He called out to her as she was leaving, "Don't wanna know why?"

Hiro tossed a shrug at him, "Don't care,"

"But you helped,"

"You were bleeding on my door,"

"Friends?"

Hiro faltered for only a second, but brushed it off quickly. Fast-forward two years, and Ichiru would laugh at her for being so affected, but past Ichiru didn't know her, and didn't know enough to catch on. "Sure." Hiro's solo team of human hatred extended to two, that day.

They became inseparable after that.

And for two years that had been the only don't-break-unless-you-want-to-commit-social-suicide rule Hiro broke. The small population of Cross that didn't drool over the night class accepted her well enough – even far enough to include her as a friend, although Hiro didn't really consider any of them as close as Ichiru (though, her friendship with Ichiru was more insults and punches, but they still worked, somehow). In a way, Ichiru was like the prefect that wasn't _really_ a prefect. Only three people gave Ichiru the time of day (two of which were Hiro and Zero themselves, the third being Kaname Kuran – who Ichiru truly regarded as a close friend from what he'd told Hiro. Zero did not take a liking to this), he was simultaneously unattainable by the Night _and_ Day class. At least Zero _wanted_ the cold front he'd built.

But still, Ichiru seemed happy enough. He insisted to keep Hiro and Zero plus Kaname separate, something about not mixing his two lives together. The hunch Hiro had flared up again, but she suppressed it. Whether she was right or not about that didn't matter. It wasn't like Zero didn't know her, Ichiru and her were basically attached by the hip when he wasn't around after all, but Zero never cared enough to outwardly talk to her. Although twice he had asked about Ichiru's whereabouts, and all Hiro had done was point in the wrong direction while Ichiru hid under her bed with a pile of snacks and videogames to shirk his responsibilities.

However, a little bit before she breaks rule number two on Cross Academy's normalcy list, Zero definitely notices her, and he does so with a glare.

"Listen," Hiro ignores Zero stomping towards them and tugs Ichiru down so she can whisper in his ear. "I really need to talk to you,"

"Now?" He raises an eyebrow, "The Night Class is about to switch, what's so important?"

Hiro starts to speak but quickly shuts her mouth when Zero approaches them. "What's going on?" He tosses Hiro a glare, but it's significantly softer than what he gives the other girls. "Day Class students should be in their dorms by now."

Hiro swallows, "I know, I just really needed to run something by Ichiru real quick,"

Zero doesn't look convinced. "Do it quick, then." He also doesn't move.

"Um." Hiro pauses. "I meant alone."

Zero gives Ichiru an incredulous glance, and Ichiru mirrors it while looking to Hiro. "I tell him everything," he says, not in a mean way, but in a way that implies Hiro knows this. Hiro opens her mouth several times, looking for some kind of excuse, anything at all.

She settles on, "It's personal." Neither of the Kiryuu twins look convinced. "It's super personal, like so personal. Um." She sounds stupid, but presses on. "It's so personal you wouldn't even…understand. I just – yeah, he won't _want_ to tell you this. And you won't want to know it, trust me."

Zero coughs awkwardly, but turns away. "Fine." Is all he says, but Hiro picks up on the light red tinge to his cheek and mentally groans at what the hell he must think of her now.

Ichiru knows her better than that, though, and snickers. "Why the fuck did you need to get rid of Nii-san? And hurry up because the Night Class is almost here," he gestures off towards the white uniforms making their way towards the entrance, "and I need to get rid of a few stragglers," he gestures to the bushes that rustle a little too much for the wind to cause.

Hiro gets straight to it. "I'm hiding a cat."

And so, Hiro breaks rule number two – don't attract the Night class under any circumstances – when Ichiru screams, _loud_.

"You're _WHAT_?!" Hiro smacks a hand over his mouth in panic and he still spits out muffled words beneath her palm. Fortunately enough, they're incoherent and no one can understand them. But it still _does_ attract attention. Zero returns in a flash, the remainder of the Day class girls forgotten at the cry of his brother and the Night class stands no more than ten feet away. Hiro doesn't even want to _look_ to see their expression.

Zero is none-to-gentle when he grabs her hand, "What's going on?" His eyes are venomous and Hiro splutters to think of a response. His grip is death-like and Hiro just _knows_ it's going to bruise in the morning. "Ichiru?"

"Um."

Hiro groans, "Thanks for the help."

Zero releases her hand and pins her with a glare, "One of you is going to tell me what's happening, _right now._ " He demands. Zero isn't known for his calmness; that much Hiro can tell. She struggles for a response, at least thankful that Ichiru hadn't ratted out their feline friend just yet.

Thankfully, Hiro is saved.

Not so thankfully, Hiro is saved by Kaname Kuran.

"Don't you think you're overreacting a little bit, Kiryuu-kun?" It's common knowledge that one does not want to be around Kaname Kuran and Zero Kiryuu together, that's asking for hell to swallow you alive. Kaname gives Zero a steely glare and places a warm hand on Ichiru's shoulder. "Perhaps if you asked nicely, Ichiru would be able to give you an answer,"

Zero glares, and opens his mouth with a retort ready on his tongue. However, Ichiru is quick to cut him off – not wanting to see two of his three only friends (one of which, sadly, is his brother) fight. "It's nothing, it was me who overreacted! The thing is Hi – "

It's then that Kaname Kuran takes notice of her, only to give her the same spiel. "Should you not be in the Day dorms by now?" Unlike Zero, Kaname most likely has no idea who the fuck she is. Maybe a name, if anything, only because Ichiru likes to talk about everything, so she's sure Kaname has heard of her.

"Uh – " Hiro starts, but Ichiru grabs her arm and finishes for her.

"Actually, we both have to go, right Hiro? I have to help you out with your _problem_ ," They all look at the two of them as if they're mentally insane. Hiro can't blame anyone, they sure are acting the part. "Um, I'm gonna take Hiro back to the dorms, Nii-san can handle this right? I can send Yuki if-"

"No." Zero cuts him off at the mention of Yuki. "Take her back," Hiro doesn't get much more acknowledgement than a head nod.

Ichiru starts to drag her towards the Sun dorms, but this time Kaname pins them with a question and a hand, and Hiro decides she truly hates life today. "Ah, this is your friend, right?" Kaname gives Hiro a polite smile and she gives him a half-assed one in return. "Is everything alright? A problem I can help with?" Hiro must give him some credit, he looks legitimately concerned (much to Zero's chagrin, who grumbles at him to stay away from Ichiru – not as strongly as he used to about Yuki, but the venom is still there).

"No, no, it's nothing we can't handle," Ichiru laughs him off. Hiro hears the chatter of the Night class and feels sick at the thought of all the attention. But she forgets about that when Ichiru shoves her through the Sun dorms and forces her to open the lock to her room.

It doesn't take long for the cat to come catapulting at her feet.

"You got a fucking cat."

"His name is Maru."

 _"You got a fucking cat."_

"….oops?"


	2. Chapter 2

The cat slips by undetected. Yori stops by to visit often, and Ichiru spends all his night duties lounging in Hiro's room cooing at the thing. Hiro gives him a look of pure disgust every-time; watching a sixteen year old boy make baby noises at a kitten serves as a traumatizing experience. It also makes it difficult to sleep at nights.

As it seems to be tonight.

"Get the fuck out."

Ichiru gasps, he even goes as far as throwing a hand over his chest and sighing dramatically, "Don't use vulgar language like that in front of the child!" He scratches between the cats ears and practically melts when Maru bares his teeth. Hiro truly believes it's meant to be taken as a threat; even a cat can only take so much Ichiru. "You know, as a prefect, you suck at your job." Hiro deadpans.

Ichiru snorts, and stops coddling the cat long enough to reach over and flick her on the head. "Nii-san can handle himself," Ichiru stops bothering the cat long enough to stretch his head out the window (which, coincidentally, is also his favorite entrance to Hiro's room). "I think Maru needs fresh air," he tosses a contemplative glance at the kitten.

Hiro snorts, "Good joke."

Ichiru wears his typical smirk. The same one that makes the typical day class fangirl fall into a puddle of mush. Hiro would too, she can vouch for Ichiru's attractiveness (never to his face, obviously), but two years taught her to fear that smirk. Good things never come from it. "No." she says, voice stern and eyes hard.

Ichiru continues to smirk.

Twenty minutes later, Hiro finds herself on the Sun dorms rooftop with a happy Ichiru and a traitorous happy Maru. "Stupid fucking cat." She grumbles. The cat nudges against her legs, and as angry as she wants to be, it's impossible to ignore the button nose and little mewls it gives. It claws up the side of her pants and she lets out a laugh. "Ok, you're pretty cute."

Ichiru leans against the wall and watches the cat reach out to give her a nose a tentative lick. "And you were so against this, I told you he needed some air,"

Hiro regrettably agrees that Maru seemed restless these past few days. Her dorm room isn't exactly made to house a playful kitten – it's barely made to house her and she lives without a roommate. She hums in response and Maru jumps down again. He claims the roof as his own, and its fun to watch him strut around the place like he owns it. "Look at how cute that is," Ichiru sighs, Hiro rolls her eyes at the dreamy tone to his voice, "How could you deny him his freedom?"

Hiro leans next to him as Maru stumbles back. Ichiru picks him up this time and rubs his nose against the fur of his stomach. Maru swats at his head but only out of jest, he rubs his neck against Ichiru's face when he pulls back and Hiro smiles. "I'm not denying him anything, I just don't want him to get caught,"

Ichiru raises an eyebrow, "Dude. I'm a prefect, how could you possibly get caught when you have me?"

Hiro laughs for a solid ten minutes – Ichiru huffs indignantly. "One of three prefects," she reminds, still wiping tears from her eyes. She releases a giggle too; doesn't even try to suppress it despite the pouty look Ichiru pins her with. "Not to mention the night class hangs around outside sometimes, you think the so-called elite is gonna be able to keep our secret?"

Ichiru fidgets at the mention of the night class. "Well I'm sure I could pull some strings with them if I had to, a few words from Kaname and not one of them will dare breathe a word to anyone," he guarantees.

Hiro shrugs, "I'm going to pretend like I believe that, for the sake of humoring you," Ichiru looks like he wants to say something, but thinks better of it and quiets down again, so Hiro continues, "One look from Kuran-san would probably shut Yuki up too," Ichiru nods, "But, do tell, how the hell are you going to convince your brother?"

Ichiru scoffs, "Well, he's the only one that can't know. Everyone else we can work around,"

"Zero-kun is a genius, he knows the second a pin drops in this place. Not to mention he's your brother," Hiro snaps, "If we make this a nightly routine, I guarantee we'll be found out in about a week."

Ichiru shrugs it off, "Don't worry about it," he sings, the nonchalant tone he takes irritates Hiro, "Zero-nii won't find out, I promise."

"Won't find out what?"

Hiro just barely forces herself to not scream. Her heart hammers against her chest but by instinct, she snatches Maru from Ichiru and hides him beneath her hoodie behind her back. She can feel him struggling against the fabric. Ichiru stumbles over his words, "K-Kaname?! Y-You uh…why are you here?" He sings the last part so awkwardly even Hiro cringes.

Kaname shrugs coolly, if he notices their apprehension he doesn't show it. "A breath of fresh air felt like a good idea, I just came to find you and say hello." He smiles softly at Hiro, "And how are you, Hiro-chan?"

Something about him irks her. The gentleness to his tone seems so half-assed it makes her shudder. And every time she looks into his eyes, they look cold. They don't hold the same warmness he portrays with his voice. Hiro knows that's not his fault. She knows the name Kuran, she knows rather well what Kaname's been through. He can't know that she knows – no one can, but she does.

Currently though, none of that matters. What matters has gone rigid in her hand and presses his nose into her back, Hiro has a hunch as to why Maru stopped moving. "Fine," she smiles curtly. "And you?"

Kaname holds up his front, "I am well too, thank you. So what is it that Zero cannot know?"

Ichiru and she share a look. Ichiru bites his lip and Hiro prays that he doesn't tell Kaname the truth. Sure he may trust him fully, but Hiro doubts Yori really wants so many people to know about Maru. And honestly, Hiro doesn't want them to know either. The last thing she needs is Kaname Kuran insisting on visiting a cat that lives in her dorm (she doubts that he would, but Maru _is_ a pretty cute cat).

Ichiru answers with a lame, "Um." Hiro mentally groans, leave it to Ichiru to fuck everything up.

Kaname chuckles lightly, "I suppose this has something to do with the scene from a few days ago, as well?" Ichiru swallows nervously, and dejectedly starts to speak but Kaname cuts him off. "It's quite alright, I understand that some secrets are better kept between friends. I only wanted a chat is all."

Hiro feels tempted to tell him, a sad look flickers on his face for a second, but she ignores it and turns to Ichiru. He wears a grateful expression, "Thank you Kaname,"

Hiro feels the warmth of fur on her back and remembers they still have a problem, they still have a cat they need to get back to her dorm, while avoiding Kaname. Who doesn't exactly seem intent on leaving, he's only been here for five minutes.

Thankfully, somebody saves them again.

Ironically enough, it's Zero.

Hiro doesn't even know which way to turn when she hears a growl come from behind. She settles to stepping to the side as Zero snarls at Kaname. "What the fuck are you doing here, Kuran?" He reaches for a silver chain attached to his jeans, but he catches Hiro off to the side and settles for shoving his hands in his pocket instead. "You're not allowed here." He snaps again at Kaname.

"I'm only visiting Ichiru," Kaname says with a smile so fake that Hiro resists the urge to cringe.

Hiro can practically feel the agitation that Zero emits, he reaches for his pocket again but stops with a look of annoyance. And with hers shitty luck, it's directed towards her, "Don't you have a curfew?" He doesn't put much venom into it, but she supposes he finds her irritating still. Hiro jerks her head towards Ichiru wordlessly and Zero lets out a low groan. He rubs his temples and mumbles something under his breath. "Ichiru, take her back to her room," he commands, he gives Kaname a glare, "I'll deal with this,"

Ichiru looks conflicted, it's clear he doesn't _want_ Zero and Kaname to fight. "He wasn't bothering us," Ichiru starts and if Hiro didn't have Maru pressed against her back, she would have strangled him on the spot. There priority should be getting back to her dorm with a cat, not stopping some stupid fight. "He was just bored."

Zero groans, "Ichiru, you know the rules, the night class students aren't supposed to…" he trails off and tosses Hiro another weary look, and turns back to Ichiru. "You get the point." He says with a stern look.

"He wasn't bothering us," Ichiru pouts.

"He's not _allowed_." Zero counters.

"He…" this time Ichiru gives Hiro a weary glance, "He has the most _control_."

Zero snarls, "Doesn't mean he won't crack."

"He hasn't before."

"But he _could_."

Hiro nearly jumps when she feels an arm on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, but perhaps it's better if you leave right now," Kaname gives her a soft smile and Hiro nods. Unfortunately, Maru does _not_ like the hand on her shoulder. Next thing she knows the cat is crawling up the back of her sweater and sinking its teeth into Kaname's palm.

Hiro resists the urge to cry. Ichiru wears a stunned expression and Hiro spits out an, "I _told_ you so!"

Zero's eyes flash between them and now there's a rough grip on her hand, and on Ichiru's. "Headmaster, _now_." He says gruffly.

"Oh come on!" Ichiru pleads. "Nii-san come _on_ , look at it!"

Kaname gently returns the cat back to Hiro, and the small thing still hisses at him angrily, although he doesn't mind. In fact he even wears a light smile although he doesn't reach to give it a pat. "I don't see why it's such a problem," he offers.

"I don't think you're helping," Hiro deadpans – that earns her a light laugh. He covers his mouth with his hand and even while laughing, he has a pristine aura about him, it really makes her nervous.

"I suppose not."

Ichiru tries to pull from Zero's grasp, and whines, "Just _look at him!_ "

Against better judgement, Hiro coaxes the cat to climb onto Zero's shoulder. "Come on, it's cute!" she presses, "Just look at it, can you _really_ say no to that?" Zero shoots her a glare and pulls harder, but the cat gives him a soft look and Hiro can already see him melting.

Ichiru catches it too, "You can visit him whenever you want – you too Kaname!"

" _What_?" Hiro snaps at him, glare intact. Ichiru gives her a pleading look, and she really, _really_ wants to keep the cat. But this – "I mean yea, sure, whatever. Just….ugh yea." Neither Zero nor Kaname looked convinced at that, but Zero _does_ stop when the cat starts to purr and nip at his hair. He lets go of Hiro and the cat launches back toward her.

"Give me one good reason why I should let this slide." He taps his foot impatiently and surprisingly, he pins _her_ with a glare instead of Ichiru.

"He's cute?" She offers.

Zero raises an eyebrow.

"He's got a dazzling personality," She tries again.

Zero crosses his arms.

"Because you're a…friend?" It's more of a question than a reason, and she says it in a tentative manner. Zero actually looks shocked, and she can't blame him. They aren't friends at all, even acquaintances is pushing it. But Maru swats out a paw to beckon him closer, and Zero complies by giving him a scratch behind the ears. Ichiru gives Hiro a thumbs up in the background, so she figures she must've said _something_ right. Kaname doesn't look too happy, but he still wears a tiny smile.

Zero huffs, "It's not my problem if you get caught."

Ichiru cheers and Hiro lets out a sigh of relief.

"So do I still have visitation rights?" Kaname smirks.

Zero cries out _"No!"_ At the same time that Ichiru sings, _"Of course!"_

Hiro just groans.


	3. Chapter 3

Kaname chooses not to act on his visitation rights. Although, he does stop by for rooftop visits when Ichiru hangs around (which, usually, is always). And with Kaname's presence comes a grumbling Zero, but Hiro doesn't mind either of them so much; she's already broken some pretty hefty social norm rules, but the non-fangirling population of Cross never really ticked her fancy anyway.

Sometimes Ichiru doesn't come, and with no Ichiru comes no Kaname. For that Hiro is thankful, dealing with Kaname on her own makes her shiver. Even with Ichiru giggling and dancing around them, it takes a lot of will power to keep her heartbeat steady, to remind herself that she _shouldn't_ know the things she does. Although, perhaps Kaname knows more than he lets on himself.

Kaname comes as a package with Ichiru.

Zero, surprisingly, does not.

Even on nights that Ichiru does not have duties, and Zero shares them with Yuki, he stops by to play with Maru on the rooftop. They don't speak much, neither Zero nor she are known to be talkers, but Hiro considers this a significant jump in their friendship. If the silent, widely hated Kiryuu twin can spare her a head nod in the mornings, Hiro figures that's as friendly as they'll get.

She still tries to talk to him sometimes though, and tonight happens to be one of those times. "Where does Yuki go when you leave her anyway?" She questions.

Zero sits across from her, one hand lazily thrumming through Maru's fur and the other being used to stifle a yawn. He doesn't answer at first, and Hiro thinks he'll ignore the question altogether when he shrugs. "To Kuran, probably."

Hiro doesn't answer that, she sees the sore spot beneath his eyes. She isn't a nice person, not even a little, but that doesn't mean she'll prod at him for the sake of sating her own curiosity. She chooses to speak on something else, "You don't like him very much."

Zero shrugs but shifts uncomfortably, the topic of speaking without growling out commands seems a little novel to him – talking to him at all is still novel to Hiro. "No, I don't." Hiro senses him choosing his words carefully.

For a second she considers saying something about Ichiru liking him. She almost says something about Yuki liking him, too. But underneath the careful wording, there's something akin to sadness in Zero's eyes. Something that he wants to tell but he forcibly holds down his tongue. Hiro has a strong guess of what that could be, and she'd want to scream it out too – when the two people you care about the most are chummy with the one man you hate the most.

She bites her own tongue, thinking of a careful phrasing for her own words. All in all she finds it ironic, the first person she was somewhat nice too was a Kiryuu, and the second person turns out to be his twin. She smiles at Maru's broad yawn, "If it's any consolation, I don't like him much either."

The words pull out a soft smile, a sincere one, and although she's seen that same smile dance on Ichiru's lips thousands of times, something about it makes her grateful the cold bite of night air makes the red color of her cheeks normal. She doesn't expect Zero to continue – and it comes as a surprise when he does, "Why not? Most people do, he has this charm to him," he scoffs.

"Didn't peg you as the jealous type, Kiryuu-kun." Hiro teases, it's hard to make fun of him really, and she has to wire her brain into pretending he's Ichiru.

Zero snickers softly though, and for a split second Hiro sees the same childishness she finds in Ichiru. At times, the two of them resemble the other in more ways than just looks. "Zero," he says flatly. "You call Ichiru by his name, don't you?" Hiro feels a warm tingle in her heart. "And you avoided the question."

"Ah, you caught me," Hiro smiles, "He just has this vibe, don't you think? Something about him is too…" she searches for the word, a word she can use without giving herself away, "Proper? Snobby?"

"Like he's above you?" Zero supplies.

Hiro agrees but still hums in thought, "Well that too but there's just something about him that makes me…wary."

Zero chuckles when Maru licks at his fingers, "Smart of you to say so,"

Zero does not show much emotion – he never did nor will he ever. But Hiro learns to read people well over the years and she sees the hidden feeling of relief in his eyes. She sees the way they soften slightly, at the thought of _someone_ understanding. All humans crave acceptance, all humans want to be understood. Zero is no exception, and someone else he considers a friend agreeing on his hatred for Kaname (although Hiro's dislike of him is nowhere _near_ as strong as Zero's) seems to make him happy – even if only a little.

Unfortunately it doesn't last long.

Kaname saunters onto the roof with a soft smile, "Hello," he gives Hiro that smile that makes her blood run cold and passes a similar one to Zero. It takes him a moment in the dark hues of night to realize that Zero is _not_ Ichiru, but Hiro can catch the exact moment that he does when the flicker of hate crosses his eyes. "Kiryuu-kun,"

Zero narrows his eyes, "Ichiru isn't here," he snaps.

"Maru is," Kaname smirks.

"He doesn't like you," Zero snarls back.

Kaname chuckles, "Where would you ever get such an impression?" He reaches to give Maru a tentative pat but the cat hisses at him in warning. Hiro holds back a laugh at the smug look Zero tosses at him. Kaname grimaces, "Yes well…" he tosses a quick look at Hiro, "Animals aren't the fondest of me, but he'll get used to me soon,"

Zero snorts, "Used to you? You…" Zero swallows and Hiro almost finds it laughable how they try so hard to beat around the bush. "You probably stink, animals can smell evil when they see it,"

Kaname glowers, and opens his mouth to snap something back but Hiro stops him with words, "Can we not make _me_ play peacemaker? That's Ichiru's job,"

They both roll their eyes, but comply silently. Before Kaname gets to leave, a night class student comes to fetch him.

Hiro swallows.

It's _him_.

 _Of course._

"Kaname-sama," The boy bows deeply, blonde hair covering his shining green eyes. He holds the same suave smile she remembers so well, the same one that comes back in her nightmares with a vengeance. She reminds herself that this is a different Ichijou, a nicer one, a kinder one, but with such striking resemblance it's hard.

Takuma opens his mouth to speak again, but his breath catches in his throat when he finds her gaze. His green eyes always stayed so calm back then, but now they widen, almost comically. Kaname catches on and raises an eyebrow – he also gives Hiro a suspicious glare. "Takuma? Is something wrong?"

Takuma doesn't speak. Too stunned for words and his hands shake a little. Hiro would be too, but Maru curls up against her hand, and the warmth of fur brushing against her fingers forces words from her mouth. Someone needs to address the situation, obviously. "Hey," she swallows.

Zero glowers at her, she feels it prickling the back of her neck. This will inevitably require some explanation. Takuma breathes out a whisper, "Hi."

She waits for him to continue.

He doesn't.

Hiro lets out an airy laugh, but even she can hear the crack in her voice. "How've you been?"

Takuma swallows. "Well. I…" he stops, glances at Kaname and Zero, and bites his lip. He takes a huge swallow of air before he continues. "You've healed well. I'm happy."

Hiro feels the strong force of Kaname's aura swallowing her whole. Maru whines loudly and she feels Zero's hand grip at her shoulders. To give him credit, he doesn't whip out Bloody Rose just yet, but she's sure one hand rests at his hip.

"Yea…you're grandfather probably isn't too happy about that." She tosses him a smile, but it feels fake on her face.

Takuma looks anguished, she sees the raw emotion in his eyes. All the pity, all the sympathy, she sees it all. "I'm…" he starts again, but can't finish. "I'm really…"

"Don't." Hiro cuts him off sharply, and it's the most venom she's put to her voice in a while. "I don't need to hear it from you." She holds off the words of comfort on her tongue. She holds off telling him it wasn't his fault – because although it wasn't, although he didn't do anything – he promised to help. He never did, though.

Takuma looks hurt. "I'm happy." He says instead. "Happy that you're still alive,"

She lets out a dry laugh, and for a second she feels the familiar feeling of raw pain flowing in her blood. She almost succumbs to it, again, like in the nightmares.

"I stopped feeling alive the year I turned six," she spits at him.

Kaname speaks at that, and Hiro hears the realization come to his voice. "That human child that your grandfather…" Takuma stops him with a whimper and a small sliver of tears. Kaname shuts up quickly – Takuma doesn't cry often.

Takuma tries to answer, but Hiro beats him to it.

"Yea, that was me."

Takuma whimpers again, and the confession make his green eyes go wide with fear. He reaches a hand out – to be comforting? To be like old times? Or to do the same that his grandfather did? Hiro doesn't get the chance to find out.

"We're leaving." Zero says gruffly, and the hand on her shoulder is surprisingly gentle. His fingers curl around her in a comfort she hasn't' had for a long time. And she almost lets out a dry laugh again, because he probably knows.

There were probably stories about it, even in the Association.

She wonders what kind of headline must've been printed. She runs a couple in her head and smiles at a few of them until she settles on her favorite.

 _Asato Ichijou's Experimental Human Escapes._

She ponders over what the next one would have been – when her life _truly_ went to shit.


End file.
